It is known that live lobsters are aggressive creatures that must be prevented from attacking adjacent lobsters or even injuring themselves during transportation or when held in a live-lobster tank. It is common practice to apply a rubber band onto the claws of a live lobster. Various devices have been proposed to accelerate and automate this procedure, and exemplary patent literature is listed below.
It is also known to bunch certain produce, e.g. broccoli, by applying elastic bands onto several broccoli stems and then usually cut the excess stems or stalks to a desired length.
In certain instances, lobsters with immobilized claws are held in cold water for an extended period of time. This scenario calls for a band material that is cold-water resistant, unlike in the case of produce bunching. Apart from the above aspect, it is usually quite important not to damage or injure a live lobster as it may cause a deterioration of its consumption value. Vegetable stems are usually less prone to a critical damage during banding. It is therefore of importance to design a lobster claw banding device or machine that provides a degree of safety in this regard.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,570,415 to Centeno; 4,480,536 to Burns; 4,470,241 to Parry et al.; and 3,386,371 issued to Farmer et al. are exemplary of machines for bunching produce or vegetables, e.g. broccoli or bananas.
Exemplary devices or machines for banding lobster claws are described in the Canadian Patent 978,036 to Dickie and U.S. Pat. No. 2,009,546 to Fannen et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,968,710 and 4,060,015 to Gros relate to apparatus and method for making resilient bands, and Canadian Patent Application No. 2,431,734 describes a lobster claw retainer made of a cold water-resistant composition.
Canadian Patent 1,251,389 addresses the problem of bonding of elastic bands during cutting.
It is preferable to use a machine that combines the step of making of resilient bands from a tubular elastic band stock with the step of banding. Attempts have also been made in the prior art to safeguard the operator from accidental injury during the cutting of the stock.